The Sydneysiders on the North Shore are depressed... Business is slack, shops are deserted and going broke, street malls are empty, the summer weather so far has been crap... On top of this, most of the North Shore is the electorate of Tony Abbott. This by itself would be depressing... and more depressing still — for many of the North Shore Siders Tony is Jesus of Nazareth, walking on water and coming to save Australia from its Labor sins...

The sharply divided US Congress has been able to agree on one thing at least - that the word "lunatic" should be banned.

Dear Brittany...

Thousands of Islamists have rallied in support of president Mohamed Morsi's newly expanded powers and the drafting of a contested charter, in a clear show of Egypt's widening polarisation.

Extreme heat waves, declining food stocks, and a life-threatening sea level rise: it's a sobering vision of the future by one of the world's largest and most powerful institutions.

A report issued by the World Bank earlier this month warns of severe consequences if global warming is not dealt with. But the international organisation may itself be contributing to climate change.

In this Parliament it always comes back to honesty and character.

More than two weeks ago (8 November 2012) I noticed a small open water drain being covered with what I suspect was green algae... My guess at the time was that I could be wrong. The bloom was not total... It could have been just weeds, but having seen blooms before, I took a picture... Picture above by Gus Leonisky. 

This small drain, coming from Moore Park, flows into the Alexandra Canal which in turn flows into the Cooks River which in turn flows into Botany Bay, Sydney...

The launch of Gina's book was a love affair... Barnaby was so enamoured he could not stop himself lauding the small print...